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'The a--hole factor'

Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert are the focus of the fight. | AP Photos

But for months, the Steering Committee members and other lawmakers have been discussing whether recalcitrance — or sabotage — should be punished by the loss of a committee assignment, according to GOP sources. The panel, which is headed by Boehner, includes a cross-section of other party leaders, committee chairmen and representatives from several regions of the country. It is responsible for picking which committees each Republican member serves on and selecting chairmen.

Part of the reason for the talk of stripping committee assignments is that earmarks have been banned. Without that carrot, the stick of conditional committee service has been an increasingly appealing tool to foster unity.

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“The guys who are taking heat for taking tough votes back home don’t understand why there aren’t consequences for people who don’t do the same thing,” explained one leadership aide.

Each committee’s roster was discussed separately, meaning that the two members removed from Financial Services — Schweikert and Jones — came up first. But Steering Committee members insist that the lawmakers who were booted went above and beyond simply voting against, or even speaking against, the party leadership.

Schweikert’s colleagues believe — fairly or not — that he was the source of a POLITICO story that revealed lawmakers and aides had jumped into the Sea of Galilee on a trip to Israel. Schweikert has publicly deniedthat he was the source and one of the reporters on the story confirmed that he was not the source on television.

“I promised my constituents I would do everything I could to bring fiscal responsibility to Washington, and that is what I did,” Schweikert wrote in The Washington Times this week. “I am proud of these votes, even though they cost me a seat on the Financial Services Committee. I am proud to vote my conscience and to stand up for the conservative principles I campaigned on. Given a choice, I would do it all over again.”

Amash had publicly attacked fellow Republicans on Facebook and Twitter, a social media penchant that has made him less popular with his colleagues.

Huelskamp was also booted from the Agriculture Committee. Republican sources say he has gone out of his way to point out perceived shortcomings of his fellow Kansans back home. One member of that delegation, Lynn Jenkins, was just elected to the GOP leadership and sits on Steering.

Boehner actually put the brakes on a bum’s rush by rank-and-file members of the Steering Committee at one point. When discussion over their fate reached a fever pitch inside the room, according to sourcesfamiliar with the deliberations, Boehner tabled the discussion so that his colleagues could cool off. When they returned to the matter, they were still steamed enough to take the extreme action of removing members from their committees.

But some of their colleagues say the trio got yanked by the leadership-driven Republican Steering Committee because they’re jerks — or worse.

In an interview with POLITICO, one member of the Steering Committee called them “the most egregious *******s” in the House Republican Conference.

The Purge of the Un American Tea Nuts is the most Patriotic thing that the Speaker of the House has done lately. Thank you Mr. Speaker and continue to identify, target and purge all of the Un American Tea nuts from the GOP.

It is hard to criticize an elected political leader for being true to their principles. That is true regardless of party affiliation or degree of "jerkness". The public makes its decisions regarding priorities and issues and elects their rep.

On the flip side, the Party leadership gets to decide who it wants on which committees, and their role on those committees. The party members in the caucus weigh in, primarily by electing their own leadership team, but they can take a position.

In this case, it appears as if not a lot of members are willing to step forward and stick their neck out for these three guys. Possibly because while they may be martyrs, them look like jerks as well. They may be fine men, good politicians, and have outstanding character (which explains their loyalty to their principles), but they rub their "teammates" the wrong way. Boehner and the leadership team wouldn't have booted them unless they thought there would be little or no objection from the remainder of the caucus.

These guys can work their way back in. They know that. This happens upon occasion in party politics. Boehner needs to generate some unity, cohesion, and solidarity prior to forging some final resolution on these year-end negotiation. So he took a step to say "I am in charge here. I'll consult. I will follow the will of the majority. But I am the leader you chose, so follow me!"

A fourth Republican, veteran North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, was kicked off Financial Services, as well. Despite splitting from his party on the Iraq war and many other matters, Jones is well-liked, and some who side with the ousted members have posited that his dismissal was a bit of a decoy so that it wouldn’t look like the freshman class had been unfairly targeted.

Walter Jones was punished for defending the interests of the hundreds of thousands Marine, Air Force, and Army families that he represents in eastern NC!

So according to the "Old Guard" dinosaur Republicans,who gave us another gelding Presidential candidate in 2012, if you come to Congress ,do the job your constituents asked you to do,refuse to put on the blinders and just follow the lead dog,you are an A****LE .THIS is the number one reason they lost the election,because of their antiquated,rigorous opposition to change in the party and refusal to listen to the new blood and the will of those who put them there. Dinosaurs like Boehner will only further weaken the party as it refuses to evolve.Only a massive purge in 2014 will remedy this diseased group of spineless, out of touch,whiners who, if left in charge of the party will bring about its ultimate demise.